North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack streaks past Valparaiso, 78-64
11/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, NC Only three games into his NC State coaching career, and Sidney Lowe has already become predictable.
At least to his players, who know when they aren’t giving the defensive effort their new coach requires, they will hear about it loudly at the next they get together with Lowe.
So when NC State trailed Valparaiso 27-26 with a little over seven minutes to play in the first half of Tuesday night’s game at the RBC Center and the new coach called time out, the players knew what was coming.
“It was the usual rip,” said junior Gavin Grant, breaking into a smile. “We get one every game. When knew it when we started walking over to the bench.
“When we got over there, he ripped us. He told us about defense. We knew what we had to do, or else there would be [a price] to pay at halftime. After that, we went out and played defense the way he wanted it to be played.”
The results were obvious: The Wolfpack held the Crusaders scoreless on their next 13 possessions and
The Wolfpack out-scored Valpo 15-0 during a seven-minute run that gave Lowe’s team a 41-29 halftime advantage. State scored the first 10 points of the second half and cruised to a 78-64 victory, its third straight under Lowe, who is in his first year as head coach.
“We couldn’t buy a basket after that timeout,” said
Grant was the game’s biggest producer, scoring a career-high 25 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to notch his second career double-double. Redshirt freshman Brandon Costner added 17 points, along with eight rebounds. Sophomore Courtney Fells was the other Wolfpack player in double figures with 13 points.
Senior Engin Atsur had a fine all-around game, scoring nine points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out six assists against two turnovers. He made three steals in the contest, two of which helped start fast-breaks during the first-half scoring run.
Grant, who did not get a rebound in the Wolfpack’s win over
“I felt like I had no rebounds [against
“I am trying to play the game where I am getting my teammates involved. The last two games, I thought I had average games. I wanted to come out and play harder today. I don’t know if you noticed, but I was a little more intense than in other games.”
Lowe was pleased that Grant made an adjustment.
“I have always talked about his versatility and the things he can do,” Lowe said. “He is one player that can help a team in so many ways. He can score the ball, he can pass the ball, he can rebound it. He did it all tonight. That is what he is capable of doing. I am glad to see that he didn’t have enough rebounds the last game and he wanted to make a conscious effort of getting some tonight.”
The Wolfpack (3-0) continues with its torrid early season schedule on Friday when it plays Gardner-Webb at the
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
